Combination undergarment



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheetl. A. FR'EY. COMBINATION UNDBRGARME'NTD No. 496,302. Patented Apr.'25, 1893.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No' Model.)

'ALFREY. COMBINATION UNDERGARMENT.

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' I NITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW FREY, OF UTIOA, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO WILD & DEVEREUX,

- OF SAME PLACE.

COMBINATION UNDERGARMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lette s Patent No. 496,302, dated April 25, 1893. Application filed December 20, 1892. Serial No. 455,777. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW FREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'Utica, county of Oneida, State of New York, have I invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Undergarments, of which the following is a specification. The ordinary under shirt is open at the bottom and is slipped over thehead of the wearer 3 lo the neck opening being made just large enough to enable this to be done, easily, and owing to the small size of the head with rela tion to the shoulders of the wearer, the slits i and overlapping flaps of the garment are of i} I5 moderate dimensions. But when itcomes to the making of a high neck union knit under garment which on account of its structure cannot be drawn on over the head but the body of which must be drawn up over the hips, it has heretofore been thought absolutely essential to divide the body or waist part of the garment all the way down the front from the neck to the crotch of the legs in order 1. that a sufficiently large opening might be had {'25 in the top of the garment. Asa result facing pieces of great length are employed which involves expense in manufacture and liability to tear and wear out. Furthermore a great number of buttons must be used which are not only inconvenient on account of the time i. consumed in buttoning and unbuttoning but i which are apt to be lost and which are a serious source of discomfort and even of injury to the wearer when the buttons are pressed K 5 against the sensitive flesh under tight fitting E corsets. The number of buttons and button holes necessary involve considerable expense v in making and applying. Even when made in the best manner also it is impossible to secure 0 a perfectly glove fitting garment with this 1 structure. The stiff facings are apt to pucker and mount in ridges which are a disfigurement as well as a discomfort; such agarment is also difficult to draw on and to take off.

145 My invention has for its object therefore the provision of a high neck union under garment, the waist or body of which is solid knit goods unbroken by vertical slits or facings and which shall yet be capable of being 1 5o drawn on over the hips of the wearer.

" Referring to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specificationz-Figure I is a view of the upper portion of the body of my improved garment as it comes from the knitting machine and before it has been cut to fit the neck and to receive the sleeves. Fig. II is a similar view showing how the front and back of the body are cut away previous to the putting on of the sleeves. Fig. III is a similar view showing the complete garment. Fig. IV is a vertical sectional view through the shoulder of the garment. Usually the body 1 of the garment is knit up to a point level with the. shoulder or substantially so and the upper edges are then '65 trimmed to fit the neck. Seams are run along the tops of the shoulders and a vertical slit is made down the front from top to bottom of the body which is protected by suitable facings and provided with buttons and button holes. In knitting my improved garment however, the body 1 is knitted both at front and rear considerably above the line X which represents what will be the tops of the shoulders and the top line of the sleeves. As it 7 comes from theknitting machine the body of the garment has at top the form shown in Fig. I. I then cut away the front of the body straight across as shown at 2 in Fig. II except for a slight curve at the center 3which allows for the curve of the neck of the wearer. The back is next cut away as shown at- 3 in Fig.- II so as to leave on each side of the cut away section inclosed by the dotted lines the two flaps 4, 4 which, as will be seen, are of knitted material continuous with the back of the garment. Fig. II shows the garment after these cuts have been made and the edges bound and ornamented. These flaps are then turned down over the breast as seen in Fig. III and 0 thus form elastic shoulder pieces which are worn with great comfort and which have no seams or buttons on the tops of the shoulders to annoy the wearer. The sleeves are then. applied. The lower edge of each shoulder 5 piece or flap 4, forming one wall of the respective shoulder openings is made comparatively inelastic so as to afford support to the shoulder parts in a lateral direction, when the flaps are closed; but by the construction shown, when this comparatively inelastic wall of each shoulder opening is free it is thrown out of the circumference of the elastic opening through which the body is passed. To provide these comparatively inelastic lateral stays forming one wall of each shoulder opening and means for opening and closing said shoulder openings, I have shown at the lower edges of the shoulder pieces 4, 4 short horizontal facings 5 which have suitable button holes and immediately under such lower edges the top of the body 1 is protected by short elastic bands or facings 6 and provided with buttons 7. hen the garment is to be put on, the flaps 4, 4 are unbuttoned and the neck of the garment presents then an elastic opening all around which may be readily drawn on by the wearer. A garment constructed in this manner is neat in appearance being perfectly glove fitting; it protects the chest perfectly; it presents no buttons to abrade or injure the skin (the buttons 7 even being placed at such point as not to bind against the collar bone or be covered by the corset), and it involves a considerable step toward the attaining of what has long been sought by the manufacturers-a perfectly buttonless garment, and is more durable than one having slits and facings and manybuttons and button holes. It is also more easy to put on and take off and is, so far as I know, the

1 openings at the shoulder portion on each side of the neck opening to permit the passage of the body and means for opening and closing said shoulder openings, one wall of said shoulder openings being comparately inelastic in lateral direction, substantially as set forth.

2. A knit high neck combination undergarment having a solid knit body portion highly expansible the entire length and width of the same, and having openings at the shonlder portion on each side of the neck opening, and flaps for closing the said shoulder openings comparatively inelastic in lateral direction, and means for opening and closing the same, substantially as set forth.

ANDREW FREY. lVitnesses:

A. W. DUNNING, HARRY E. KNIGHT. 

